[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29941-29943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09767]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035805; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Maine State Museum, Augusta, ME

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Maine State Museum has completed an 
inventory of human remains and

[[Page 29942]]

associated funerary objects and has determined that there is no 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects and any Indian Tribe. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Cumberland, Franklin, Sagadahoc, York, 
Oxford, and Knox Counties, ME.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice may occur on or after June 8, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Paula T. Work, Curator of Systematic Collections, Maine 
State Museum, 83 SHS, Augusta, ME 04333-0083, telephone (207) 287-6604, 
email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Maine State Museum. The National Park Service is not responsible for 
the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the inventory or related records held by the Maine 
State Museum.

Description

    In 1992, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual, 
were removed from the Ormsby Site, ME15.51, in Cumberland County, ME. 
These human remains were removed during an excavation contracted by 
Central Maine Power Company. The cremated remains from Feature 5 most 
likely belong to a juvenile, and they probably date to the Archaic 
Period (9,000-3,600 BP). No known individual was identified. The one 
associated funerary object is a fragment of worked animal bone (two 
pieces of bone combined into one element).
    On an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual, were removed from Clapboard Island, Portland, in Cumberland 
County, ME. These human remains were donated to the Maine State Museum 
in 1978 by Robert Crowley. The human remains consist of a partial femur 
ball, a rib fragment, and two partial phalanges. Based on ages of other 
Clapboard Island sites, these human remains could date to the Ceramic 
Period. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Sometime between 1988 and the 1990s, human remains representing, at 
minimum, one individual, were removed by archeological field schools 
from Tracy Farm, Starks, ME69.11, Feature 2, in Franklin County, ME. 
These human remains were transferred in 1995 to the Maine State Museum 
from the University of Maine at Farmington Archaeology Research Center. 
Feature 2 contained much of a deteriorated skeleton belonging to an 
adult male 35-50 years old. Based on burial style and radiocarbon 
dating (515 60 BP), these human remains date to the Early 
Contact Period. No known individual was identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    In 1984, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual, 
were removed from Tracy Farm, Starks, ME69.11, in Franklin County, ME. 
Catalog numbers indicate that these human remains most likely were 
transferred to the Maine State Museum in 1995 from the University of 
Maine at Farmington. The human remains belong to an adult, probably 
male. Based on radiocarbon dating (530 40 BP), these human 
remains date to the Late Ceramic Period. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1984 (probable date), human remains representing, at minimum, 
two individuals, were removed from Tracy Farm, Starks, ME69.11, in 
Franklin County, ME. Catalog numbers indicate that these human remains 
most likely were transferred to the Maine State Museum in 1995 from the 
University of Maine at Farmington. The human remains--skull fragments 
and a single molar--belong to an individual of indeterminate age and 
sex. Based on radiocarbon dating of site materials (515 60 
BP), these human remains date to the Early Contact Period. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1978, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual, 
were removed from West Bath, ME15.114, in Sagadahoc County, ME. The 
human remains were found eroding from a riverbank. That same year, 
these human remains were transferred to the Maine State Museum from the 
State Medical Examiner's office. The human remains belong to a female 
18-21 years old. Based on radiocarbon dating (625 105 BP), 
these human remains date to the Late Ceramic Period. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1962, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual, 
were removed from Basin site, Phippsburg, ME15.20 in Sagadahoc County, 
ME. These human remains were donated to the Maine State Museum in 1963 
by the Maine Archaeological Society. The human remains--a skeleton--
belong to a female 25-35 years old. Based on radiocarbon dating (863 
47 BP), these human remains date to the Late Ceramic 
Period. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    In 2000, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals, 
were removed from Center Lovell, ME21.33, in Oxford County, ME. These 
human remains were salvaged from an eroding burial and that same year, 
were turned over to the Maine State Museum in 2000 by the Chief Medical 
Examiner's Office. The human remains belong to an adult and a child, 
and consist of the top portion of two skulls and an additional bone for 
the child. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    On an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual, were removed from an unknown site (likely along the banks 
of the Saco River) in York County, ME. These human remains were 
collected by Enoch Jordan of Saco and given to the Dyer Library and 
Saco Museum (DL/SM) in 1866 by Mrs. E.C. Jordan. The human remains were 
transferred to the Maine State Museum in 2003 from DL/SM. The human 
remains--a cranium--belong to a female of indeterminate age. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    On an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual, were removed from the Erkkilas site, Warren, ME27.3, in 
Knox County, ME. The human remains were donated to the Maine State 
Museum in 1979 by Benjamin Smith. The human remains--a cranial 
fragment--belong to an individual of indeterminate age and sex. The 
human remains are dated to the Archaic Period, Moorehead phase (4,500-
3,800 BP). No known individual was identified. The two associated 
funerary objects are a piece of ocher and a piece of pyrite.

Aboriginal Land

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
were removed from known geographic locations. These locations are the 
aboriginal lands of the Eastern Abenaki and other tribes that formerly 
occupied what is now Cumberland, Knox, Oxford, Sagadahoc, and York 
Counties and portions of Franklin County in the State of Maine and that 
are related to one or more Indian Tribes. The following information was 
used to identify the related Indian Tribes: Acts of Congress that 
include the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-420, 
94 Stat. 1785), the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians Supplementary 
Claims

[[Page 29943]]

Settlement Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-566, 100 Stat. 3184), and the 
Aroostook Band of Micmacs Settlement Act of 1991 (Pub. L. 102-171, 105 
Stat. 1143); the legislative history of those Acts of Congress; and 
other relevant, authoritative governmental determinations. Accordingly, 
it is the recommendation of the Maine State Museum that disposition of 
the described human remains and objects in this notice be made be to 
the Mi'kmaq Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Passamaquoddy 
Tribe, and the Penobscot Nation, collectively represented by the 
Wabanaki Intertribal Repatriation Committee.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, the Maine State Museum 
has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 12 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The three objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at 
the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
     No relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably 
traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects and 
any Indian Tribe.
     The human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice were removed from the aboriginal land of 
tribes related to the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; Mi'kmaq Nation 
(Previously listed as Aroostook Band of Micmacs); Passamaquoddy Tribe; 
and the Penobscot Nation.

Requests for Disposition

    Written requests for disposition of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for disposition 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization, or who shows that the requestor is an aboriginal land 
Indian Tribe.
    Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after June 8, 
2023. If competing requests for disposition are received, the Maine 
State Museum must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to 
disposition. Requests for joint disposition of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not 
competing requests. The Maine State Museum is responsible for sending a 
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9 and 
10.11.

    Dated: May 3, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09767 Filed 5-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P